Betty's Bedtime Story
by Kristen3
Summary: After her birthday party, Betty doesn't want to go to sleep, not without hearing a very special story. One-shot. Spoilers for the series finale (obviously)! Rating is for slightly adult references.


**Author's Note:** I just finished re-watching the final season on DVD. The finale gave me feels, more than I'd expected. Of course I felt the need to do something on Joy and her little family, and the resulted. It takes place immediately after the "Five years later" scene at the end.

"Well, are you ready for bed, young lady?" Joy asked, walking in to her daughter's bedroom.

"Can't I stay up a _little_ later?" five-year old Betty asked. "Please? It's my special day!"

Joy looked at her watch. "It's nearly midnight, so your special day's about to be over. It's already way past your bedtime. It really is time for you to go to bed, sweetheart." Joy stood beside Betty's bed, stroking the girl's hair. It was incredible how much she loved her daughter, adopted or not. That was why her birthday had been such a big deal, with a party at Stormi's.

"Oh, Dad, can't I stay up a little longer?" Betty asked when her father appeared in the doorway.

Bob was about to say yes, but when he caught sight of Joy's expression, he knew that wasn't the answer. "I'm afraid not, kiddo. If your mom says it's bedtime, then it's bedtime."

Joy smiled, grateful that Bob had agreed with her. Betty certainly did have her father wrapped around her finger, but Joy made sure Betty understood that there were rules.

"OK, but tell me the story again before I go to sleep!"

At that, Joy softened. "All right. Well, your aunt Melanie and Aunt Victoria and I were living in LA. Nothing was going right for us. Melanie's husband had just left her, Victoria's show got canceled, and I was out of a job. We all thought flying to Paris would give us a break from our rotten lives. But the plane crash-landed in….."

"Cleveland!" Betty exclaimed. "Tell me about the house!" She loved to hear this story over and over.

"OK, well, once we were here, we began to notice that men were looking at us differently than they did in LA. They thought we were hot." Joy turned and smiled at Bob. Now, instead of chasing men, she was a wife and a mother. None of it would've ever been possible if it hadn't been for their unscheduled stop in Cleveland. "Aunt Melanie thought maybe we should move here, so she started looking for a house to rent. We found this place, and we loved it immediately." With all four of them now married, they each lived in houses nearby, but "their" house was now Joy's, as she would need the room to raise young Betty. The girl slept in what had been Joy's old room. The pink walls and Disney princess posters made it nearly unrecognizable now.

Bob returned Joy's smile. All those endless attempts to get Joy into bed had finally worked. It was still hard for him to believe. He squeezed his wife's hand, letting her know he loved this story almost as much as Betty did.

"And you met Grandma!" Betty chimed in excitedly. To everyone's surprise, Elka had turned into a doting grandmother. She still traded wisecracks with Joy, but she loved Betty to pieces.

"Yes," Joy said, laughing. "Elka was the caretaker of the house. I thought she was a crazy old woman who wouldn't shut up."

"And what do you think of her now?" Bob asked, barely containing a laugh.

"I still think she's mad!" Joy replied. "That hasn't changed, but she has grown on me a bit."

"Now tell Betty about how you met _me_ ," Bob said. "That's my favorite part of the story."

Joy turned to her husband. Tears were forming in her eyes, because sometimes she still couldn't believe this was her life now. For so many years, she'd gone after the wrong men, looking for nothing more than cheap, meaningless sex. "Well, after a few years, I began to think about finding a career. Like Melanie's radio show. I started taking some college courses, and I fell in love with criminology. Being a detective seemed like a good fit. I took a job at your father's detective agency."

"Yes," Bob said. "There were many long stakeouts. I tried every trick in the book to get her to sleep with me, but it just wouldn't work. I don't know how she could resist my charm."

Joy laughed. That was part of what she loved about him. Bob always made her laugh more than any of the other men she'd been with. "Little by little, I saw that your father had a good heart, underneath everything. And we fell in love." Joy stood up from the bed, kissing Bob for a long moment.

"And then you got married, and that's when you met _me_!" Betty announced proudly. Joy and Bob had been open about the fact that Betty was adopted. For now, it was a detail that didn't seem to matter to the young girl. Someday, Joy knew, she might wonder about her real family, but hopefully that wouldn't be for a long time.

"Yes, sweetheart, that's when we met you. The moment the lady at the adoption agency put you in my arms, I knew you were our daughter. We both loved you right from the start. So did everyone else."

"That's right," Bob said. "You were just as beautiful as your mom. I knew right then that I'd protect you forever. Remember, if any boy ever asks you on a date, just tell him your dad's a detective, and he can do a background check on anyone!"

Joy playfully nudged her husband. From her own experience, she'd learned that it was often necessary to find the wrong man, even several wrong men, before the right one would show up. Even if it took her a really long time, Joy prayed Betty would find the love and happiness she deserved. "OK, now you've heard the story. That's enough stalling. It's time to go to sleep." She bent down, nose-to-nose with Betty. "I love you," she whispered, before kissing the girl's cheek.

"Love you, too, Mommy!"

Joy got up, giving Bob room to kiss his daughter goodnight. "I thought your mom would never give in to me. I would've settled for a date, or even a one-night stand. But here we are, and we've got the best daughter in the world. How did I ever get so lucky?"

Betty giggled. Her dad said that to her every night. Even though she didn't quite understand what a one-night stand was, she liked hearing the words. Her family was different from what most other kids had. She was old enough to realize that. But it didn't matter, because her mom and dad told her that families came in all shapes and sizes. What mattered was love. That, Betty knew, she had plenty of.

 **The End**


End file.
